More Precious Than Gemstones
by Lydia Hunter
Summary: A nice relaxing swim on an alien world turns into a search for a kidnapped child. Set early in the Tenth Doctor era.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** _Written as part of Ponygirl's Summer Solstice Fanfic Exchange. This is for Megoddess2, who wanted 10/Rose, an adventure on an alien planet, and a reference to Jack. A challenge in every sense of the word, since I had only seen one Tennant episode and adventure isn't really my forte. If it sucks, that's my only excuse._

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"It's so 'ot out 'ere," Rose said in amazement.

"Full summer," answered the Doctor.

"Yeh, but it looks like spring. Early spring. Still a bit chilly."

He nodded. "Mm. It's the atmosphere. Quality of the light makes it look colder than it really is. Mind you, the people on Jalorus V would probably step out of a spaceship on Earth in mid-winter and die of frostbite because it looked so hot on the monitor they all went off without their coats. Lesson number 191-stroke-B on never judging by appearances."

"'Sat wha's called? Jalorus V? Definitely an alien planet – look at that blue grass!"

"Either that or we're in Kentucky," he grinned. "And they don't normally have green skies there unless it's a hailstorm. Or purple lakes, either," he added, pointing at an expanse of dark purple water just visible through a grove of trees.

The trees, Rose noted, looked fairly normal. "Green sky and blue grass. Like the whole world's sor'a upside down." She looked towards the lake again, noting how cool the dark water looked.

"Fancy a swim, then?" she suggested.

"Now, Rose, be sensible. We don't even know if it's safe," he answered with a wink. "There could be all kinds of monsters and pollution, and pollution monsters. Due caution at all times, you know!"

Rose giggled and headed back into the TARDIS to change into her bathing suit.

There were, in fact, no bizarre monsters lurking beneath the surface, no excessive amounts of pollution, just a slightly fishy smell. Even the colour was nothing more than an optical illusion, like the "blue" seas of Earth, caused by the combination of rocks and vegetation and reflected sunlight.

And it was cool, at least in comparison with the ambient temperature. The two companions swam and played in the water, splashing one another like children. For the longest time there seemed no other sound in the countryside but the splash of water punctuated by occasional male laughter and shrieks of pleasure from Rose when he threw water in her face, or when she pushed him under.

"Dark soon," the Doctor announced, treading water as he looked up at the sky.

Rose looked up, puzzled. "Thought i' was mid-afternoon."

"Some planets have this sort of instant nightfall. No twilight, just light one minute and dark the next, practically. This is one of 'em. Tell by the sun. Mid-afternoon now, be full dark in an hour or two."

"Wow. That's weird. I love this stuff, Doctor." When he didn't reply she went on, "Alien planets with blue grass, and apple grass, and purple lakes, and instant sunsets. Still, I think I'd miss not having any sunsets, wouldn't you?" Still no reply. "Doctor? Wouldn't you miss sunsets if there weren't any planets that had 'em? Doctor?"

She turned around to find herself alone. "Doctor? Doctor, where are you? This i'n't funny – quit messin' about." She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, and scanned the surrounding shoreline in case he'd somehow slipped out of the water while her back was turned. No sign of him anywhere.

"Doctor? Where've you got to? I'm not worried, if tha's what ya think," she said, with a slight tremor in her voice that rather belied the bravado of her words. "Doctor? I mean it, I'm not worryin' about ya. I know all about 'ow you can hold yer breath for days or summing like that because yer a Time Lord. You hear me? I'm not gonna worry."

Another minute went by. Two minutes. Three. To Rose it felt more like three hours. Or three years.

"Doctor?" she called again softly. "Where are _yoouuuu...!"_

The question ended in a strangled yelp as she felt herself grabbed by the ankle. Her gasp of surprise had the fortuitous side-effect of giving her a lungful of air just before her head went under.

Rose opened her eyes to find the Doctor's grinning face inches from hers, his normally floppy hair floating straight up from his head like brown seaweed. He put one hand on her shoulder and pointed with the other arm, drawing her attention toward a very odd-looking spiny fish, a creature rather resembling a lionfish only colourfully pretty.

When they breached the surface she took a shuddering breath and turned a withering glance on the Doctor. "What the hell did you think you were doin'?" she demanded, smacking him on the arm. "Givin' me a fright like that?"

The Doctor put his head back and spat a stream of water in a graceful arc. "What were you saying before I pulled you under? Hard to hear under water. Lovely down there, though. _Looovvellyyy. _Wasn't that kebel fish _gorgeous?_ And I _think_ I saw a school of gumblejack down there. I didn't even think they were supposed to exist in this part of the galaxy. Would you believe I used to be dead keen on fishing a few regenerations back? Fishing, then it was cricket the next time, then fishing again, then ... what?"

She was giving him the look he'd seen all too often in his life, usually on the face of a female companion. Her hands were spread out on the still surface of the water and not on her hips, but otherwise, exactly the same. He reacted the way he normally did in the same situation, too – with a flash of his boyishly good-natured smile.

Rose snorted. "Like a 900-year-old kid, you are."

"Oh, well, there's something to be said for stayin' a kid. You get to be, y'know ... childlike. And, erm..."

"Childish?" she suggested, with just the hint of a grin.

"Race you to shore!" shouted the Doctor abruptly, pushing off through the purple water with powerful strokes.

"Yep. Childish."

Half an hour later they were lying flat on their backs on the grass, soaking up the rays of the rather pale-looking sun. Rose's sparkly pink bikini was long since dry, but the Doctor's blue shorts and white t-shirt still clung wetly to his thin form. He'd been back in for another dip already.

Rose kept sneaking glances at him. This was the most she'd ever seen of him, barring the time she'd undressed him following his regeneration, and she'd hardly been in any fit state to appreciate aesthetics then. He was a bit cuter than he had been before, albeit without the overt sexiness of his previous incarnation. And, granted, he didn't exactly look as awe-inspiring as Captain Jack in the tight white shirt, either. The Doctor could be more easily described as painfully thin than toned and buff. When the shirt stuck to him, as it did now, she could see the suggestion of a few ribs underneath. Still ... not bad, she decided. After all, he'd retained every ounce of charisma he'd ever possessed, and the brown eyes glowed with intelligence and enthusiasm. Oh, yes, the charm was still there in full measure.

Her gaze moved upwards to his face and she was caught. The Doctor was not only watching her watch him, but giving her bikini-clad curves a long, appraising look of his own. Rose bit her lower lip self-consciously, but she met his gaze and held it. He smiled at her.

"Fancy another dip before nightfall?"

She shook her head and watched him lope off toward the lake yet again. Suddenly she wondered if the "dip" might not just be a variation on the proverbial cold shower. With a giggle, Rose Tyler lay back and closed her eyes.

She opened them again, moments later, to find the Doctor standing over her, dripping on her. "Watch it!"

He was staring off into the distance, down the gravelled road. "That can't be good," he said quietly. "Villagers carrying torches, that's never a good sign. Never, _never_ a good sign," he repeated.


	2. Part Two: An Adventure

Rose was surprised to find the Doctor already dressed and waiting for her in the console room.

"They warnin' us off?" she asked, patting her dried and brushed hair into place. His was still wet.

He shook his head. "Nothing to do with us. That's a search party out there. A little boy's been kidnapped, and they think he's been taken into the mountains."

"We have to help look!" She was instantly concerned.

He beamed at her. "I knew you'd feel that way. Told them we'd be along in a tick." He handed her an electric torch. "Come on."

They were getting further away from the village search party, though they could still hear them calling the lost child's name. "Bredon! _Breeee-ddoonnn!"_

"Wha's his name? Braden?" Rose asked.

"Bredon. Like the village in Worcester. Or Lord Peter Wimsey's eldest son," he added. Rose, who had never heard of either one, made no comment.

The sky took on a strange hue suddenly. "Looks like a storm, too," she said dourly.

"Nope," answered the Doctor. "Nightfall. This is your romantic sunset, Rose. All the one you're gonna get."

They stood and watched it for a moment, all the time it took to become fully dark on this planet. Then the Doctor switched on his torch and headed through the most passable bit of undergrowth, holding the tree branches out of the way for Rose.

"Wha'd they tell ya about all this?" she called. The branches had thinned out as they continued, and his long legs had carried him far ahead of her.

His voice came back to her from about thirty yards away. "He's eight years old, and his mother claims a girl kidnapped him. There was some confused bit about it all being to do with his father's recent death, and something else to do with a bag of jewels. Mother's a bit of an hysteric, apparently, and no one can sort out when she's telling the precise truth, but the kid is gone, there's no doubt about that."

"'Ow do they know 'e didn't just sor' of wander away? Kids do that. Could be in his neighbour's garden the whole time."

He stopped and waited for her to catch up. "The kidnapper left a note. The headman saw it. Says she's taken the boy and the jewels, and the mother won't have any claim on any of them anymore."

The flora continued to thin, and before long they were face to face with sheer rock. The Doctor placed the flat of his palm against the stone, still warm from the sunshine. He considered the situation.

Rose shone her torch upwards and to either side, but as far as the eye could see there was nothing but the deceptively smooth rock.

"Rose, I don't suppose you happen to have any rock-climbing equipment with you, do you?" the Doctor asked.

Rose shook her head regretfully. "Sorry, fresh out. Why? Don't you?"

"Left it in my coat," he answered, and she wasn't _entirely_ certain whether he was joking or not. He patted his trouser pockets. "No. None there. And … hang on, that's _very_ odd. Very odd indeed. My bottom seems to be wet."

She stared at him in surprise, then burst out laughing. "You put yer clothes right on over yer wet things, didn't ya?"

"Oohh, yeah. Tha's probably it," he answered unconcernedly. "Well, if up is temporarily out of the question, left or right, then?"

"Mm, right."

"Right. Then right it is. Right you are. Quite right." He brushed past her and took up the point position again.

There wasn't exactly a path, per se, but the area directly at the base of the cliff was moderately clear of impedances. A few small trees, the occasional boulder they had to skirt, and of course the ever present pebbles underfoot made walking a bit difficult, but at least they were able to keep to a clear line. When the route began to take a noticeable curve upwards, they stopped and high-fived each other.

Rose took the opportunity to rest a bit. She leaned against the rockface and took a drink from her water bottle. "Think we'll find 'im tonight, Doctor?" she asked quietly.

"'S possible," he replied, though he didn't sound particularly hopeful. "It hasn't been that long, really."

There was a spot of light just visible through the trees, a faint flicker in the distance.

"'Zat another search par'y?"

He grunted in the affirmative. "There's another one over there. Clearly the locals have the advantage over us figurin' how to get up the mountain!"

At length they came across a gravel-strewn clearing that bisected their path at 90-degree angles and continued ascending till it curved out of sight. The path was dangerously steep, and they'd have to watch themselves on those rocks, but it was unmistakably a trail of some sort.

About fifteen feet up the precipitous slope, the Doctor stopped and swung his torch around. "Now what was that, I wonder?"

"Wha's the matter?"

"Caught a flash. Juuusst ... _there._"

He left the path at an angle, skidding down a few feet as he did so, and scooped up something. He turned the torchlight on his cupped hand. "Now, wha' have we here? Well, aren't _you_ pretty, then?"

"Wha' is it?"

The Doctor held out his hand as he rejoined her, and dropped the object into her outstretched palm. "A ruby. Rather a nice one, as well."

The implications of this find made them smile broadly at one another.

"They passed this way. Come on!"

The path twisted as they climbed, and the surface of the rockface changed from smooth to craggy, with the occasional deep fissure. Some were practically small caves, and the Doctor inspected each one as they passed.

"Hullo?" he called, shining the light into the nearest one. "Are there any little kidnapped kiddies in here? No? All right. Moving on..."

The more the surface of the rock changed, the more their track began to tilt, until the two of them were walking at a most uncomfortable angle, holding onto the side of the mountain to keep balanced.

There were fewer loose stones underfoot, but Rose managed to find one of the existing ones. She slipped, felt herself falling, but the Doctor grabbed her and pulled her to safety just in time. "Careful," he said softly, holding her to his chest. "Sprained ankles happen to some of the best people in the universe, but I'm going to be very disappointed the day it happens to you."

"Well, I wouldn't —" she began, but he placed a finger over her lips.

"Shh. D'you hear that?"

They both listened intently. There was dead silence for a moment, then a faint cry from somewhere above them. It sounded like – oh, yes, it _was_ – a child's voice calling for help. The Doctor and Rose exchanged a quick hug of triumph.

"Hello? Is that young Bredon?" called the Doctor. "Where are you?"

"We're here. We need help. Oh, please!" pleaded the voice, noticeably louder this time. They realised they were closer than they thought.

"We're comin'!" shouted Rose. "Tell us 'ow to find ya."

A shower of small rocks rained down about ten metres from them. Looking up in that direction they could see a small form just visible in the moonlight. The child waved them onwards. "Go through the grove and climb the big shawa tree. And hurry!"

They made their carefully off the ever-diminishing trail back into the growth of trees. The tallest of the lot had rough bark and numerous small branches for handholds scattered amongst the larger limbs, enabling the Doctor to scamper up like a monkey. Rose needed the hand he offered her more than once, but managed to climb without too much difficulty.

The child was dressed in the same muffling unisex costume worn by all the villagers the Doctor had spoken to: light-coloured linen trousers tucked into sturdy boots and topped with a baggy, long-sleeved tunic. The tunic's hood was swaddled closely around the face, and surmounted by a headband containing one single gemstone in the centre. Somewhat to his surprise the anxious little face peering out of this costume had lovely long eyelashes and a distinctly feminine mouth.

He knelt in front of the little girl and said gently, "Hullo, I'm the Doctor and this is my friend Rose. What's your name?"

She grabbed his hand impatiently. "Joara. Please come quickly, _please._ I think he's dying."

"Who is? Bredon?" he asked, playing a hunch.

"Yes, Bredon. My brother. Now hurry, please." She gave the Doctor's hand a tug, and he allowed himself to be led along the shelf of rock.

"Ah, Joara, don't tell me _you're_ the kidnapper. I'd hate it if you were the kidnapper."

The girl radiated indignant anger, but she didn't slow her pace. "Kidnapper? Is _that_ what that woman's saying!"

Without waiting for an answer she slipped through one of the larger cracks, leaving the two adults to squeeze through after her. It was pitch dark in the tiny cavern, but the Doctor's eyes adjusted quickly. The missing boy lay unmoving on the ground, and the Doctor immediately knelt by his side to examine him.

"Burning up," he said to himself. "Skin completely dry. Joara, how long has he been like this?"

"Since just after dark."

"I have to get him outside where there's some air circulating." He picked the limp form up in his arms and managed, with some difficulty, to maneuver himself and his burden through the narrow opening. "Rose, I hope there's still water in that bottle of yours, cos we're gonna need it. And lots more besides."

He began removing the heavy layers of the boy's clothing, then bathed the dry face with the water from Rose's bottle. Joara danced around them anxiously.

"Will he be all right?"

"I hope so," the Doctor answered tersely. "I need you to tell me what happened to your brother, all right, Joara?"

"We were running to get to the cave before anyone found us, and it was hot, and Bredon felt bad before we got here. He was too hot. I told him to drink water, but he didn't feel like it and then he fell asleep and wouldn't wake up. I was trying to wake him, and then you came. You will help him, won't you? You're some sort of healer?"

Rose placed a comforting hand on the child's shoulders. "Wha's wrong wiv 'im, Doctor?"

"Heatstroke. Joara, did you say you have water? I need you to bring me every drop you have. Rose, you start massaging his legs. No, towards the heart, tha's a good girl."

Joara was back in a flash, carrying a water bag that was mostly full. The Doctor smiled as he took it from her. "Excellent, but we'll need loads more than this. Someone will have to go and bring back more water. And salt. He needs salt."

"I'll go," offered Rose, getting to her feet, but the Doctor held her back with a slight shake of his head.

He turned to their new acquaintance, who was watching the proceedings with an expression of horror. "You know these mountains really well, don't you, Joara? Can you find your way in the dark?"

She nodded. "Father brought us with him before daybreak quite often."

"Good, good. Now listen to me: there are search parties combing the mountains looking for Bredon. You'll be able to see their lights if you keep looking. I want you to go and find one of the parties and bring them back here. Tell them we need lots of water, and ice, and salt. Oh, and something to use as a litter; we'll have to carry him out of here when he's stabilised."

She didn't seem to have heard him. Staring at her brother, she said quietly, "Father looked just like that before he died. His wife said that was my fault, too. And Bredon —"

"Your brother's not going to die," the Doctor told her firmly, hoping very much it was true. "And Bredon came with you willingly, didn't he?"

"Yes," said the quiet little voice. "We wouldn't ever see each other again; his mother was sending me away. So we ran away. It was my idea, though."

The Doctor took her thin little hand in his, and stroked it comfortingly with his thumb. "Doesn't matter. What matters is you can still help him. Off you go, now, quick as you can. Mind your step!" he called, as she took off down the ledge in a burst of speed.

"How is 'e really, Doctor?" Rose asked quietly, as soon as she was sure the girl was out of hearing range.

He sighed. "Not good. Quite serious, actually. Sunstroke kills a lot of people, and I'm rather hoping this won't be one of 'em. Why don't you have a look round and see if you can find something to use as a fan?"

When she returned, carrying a large piece of bark shaving, she was rather startled to see the Doctor pulling off his jacket and shirt. He tossed them in a heap onto the ground next to his tie, and began pulling the t-shirt he'd worn swimming over his head.

"Wha' you _doing_?" asked Rose incredulously.

"This shirt's still a bit wet. I'm gonna put it on him and soak it." He did so, then trickled more of the dwindling water reserves onto the boy's face. "That should help – I hope. And just think, you _laughed_ at me for not dryin' off."

"I'm _still_ laughin' at ya!"

The Doctor gave her one of his mock-severe looks – the kind that would have worked so much better if he'd had his glasses on – and said, "Less laughing and more fanning from you, if you please, Nurse Rose."

She complied, and the two worked in silence for awhile. Rose fanned streams of air over the patient while the Doctor alternated between wetting him down and massaging his limbs.

"There's the last of the water," the Doctor said somberly.

Rose kept working the improvised fan. It was too dark to see the colour of the little boy's face, but he lay just as still as he had from the start. Still as death.

"Is 'e in a coma?" she asked the Doctor.

He took the sonic screwdriver from the pocket of his recently reassumed jacket and scanned the boy's head carefully.

"Not quite. Actually, he's ... veerrryy slightly better. His temperature's dropped a degree or three. No, don't start celebrating yet," he cautioned, sensing her excitement. "It might start climbing again if he dries out before Joara gets back with the water. Slow process, this."

Rose pushed a few strands of blonde hair off of her sweaty face. "Her stepmum really claimed she kidnapped her own brother? And where's 'er own mum in all this?"

"No one I spoke to even mentioned Joara's existence. But it doesn't seem like Bredon's mother cares much for her co-wife's daughter, does it?"

"Co-wife?"

"Mm hmm. That's what they call it. Polygamous society, the Jalorans."

"That would explain it."

The Doctor busied himself taking Bredon's temperature again. "Not really. There are _some_ societies where the concept works really well. And more than a few —"

A rustling of leaves and a scrabble of falling rocks heralded the return of Joara. A second later she ran up to them, carrying a large water-bag. "Is he better, Doctor?"

"Yes, I think he is. And you made good time with the water, too."

The child couldn't contain her excitement at the good news. "There are others coming, but they have to take the long way around. And I brought ice, too, like you told me," she said, unstrapping a smaller leather bag from her back.

The Doctor beamed at her. "Excellent! Good job. That'll help. Now, why don't you sit down and tell me all about yourself while we're waiting?"

"What about me?"

"Oh, anything you like," he said casually. "Tell me about your little bag of jewels, f'rinstance. Oh, I think this is yours, by the way. We found it on the way up." He took the ruby from his pocket and pressed it into her hand.

"It _is_ mine. They're _all_ mine; they were my mother's, and not part of her dowry, and that woman has no right to them _at all._"

Rose patted her on the shoulder. "You tell 'er!"

Joara looked up at her with big eyes glittering in the moonlight, obviously taking Rose's words literally. "I _did_ tell her! And my grandfather told her, but she keeps saying she's entitled to her co-wife's dowry and that she's going to use it for my dowry and send me away to the next village to get married to whoever will take me. And that I can never come home and I'll never see my brother or my grandfather again."

"Well, I don't blame you for being angry," the Doctor sympathised. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Eight."

"Same age as Bredon."

"We were born on the same day, but my mother died and his didn't." She didn't say that she wished it had been the other way around, but the longing was clear in her voice.

By the time help arrived, Bredon's fever had come down further and he was beginning to stir. He was starting to regain consciousness by the time they reached his mother's house in the village, though still groggy and unaware.

The distraught mother sat sobbing in her chair, comforted by the wife of the village headman.

The headman himself strode into the room in front of the rest of the party, supporting one end of the sling that held Bredon. He nodded brusquely to the man holding the other end and they lowered the sling carefully to the floor.

The boy's mother gave one sharp cry of joy and threw herself onto her knees next to her son, clutching at his hand and covering his face with kisses. He smiled up at her sleepily.

"Is he ... will he ... be all right?" she asked the headman hesitantly.

"He'll be fine," answered the Doctor. "Keep him out of the heat for a couple of days, make sure he drinks plenty of water – and put just a touch of salt in it." He managed to restrain himself, with not inconsiderable difficulty, from adding the bit about two-aspirins-and-call-him-in-the-morning. They wouldn't get the joke.

She stared up at the stranger. "Who are you, sir?"

"Alara, this man is called the Doctor. He was single-handedly responsible for saving Bredon's life," the headman informed her.

"He's a very powerful healer," put in his second wife from near the doorway.

The Doctor demurred. "Oh, not that powerful, really. Merely a passing genius." Rose, next to him, snorted softly. "And besides, Joara brought the water and ice."

Alara noticed her stepdaughter for the first time, standing next to the stranger and slightly behind, her small hand clasped in his larger one. The look that crossed the woman's face made the little girl hide behind the Doctor.

"Joara took him away!" She was on her feet and across the room in an instant. She grabbed her stepdaughter's shoulder and jerked her roughly from the shadow of her new protector. "You evil, stupid child – you almost killed him!" In a flash her hand shot out and Joara crumpled to the floor.

The villagers stared at Alara in shock. The disapproval on the faces of her friends and neighbours was nothing compared to the look of cold rage the stranger turned on her.

He bent down and ever so gently ascertained that Joara wasn't injured, then left Rose and one of the other women comforting her as he turned to her stepmother. Alara took an involuntarily step backwards.

"I wish you hadn't done that," he told her, in a voice that was indescribably hard. "I mean, I _really_ wish you hadn't felt it was necessary to be violent with _an eight-year-old child_ in my presence! Just when you think the wicked stepmother is just the stuff of fairytales, a woman like you comes along and makes Cinderella's mum look like an _amateur._ What would your husband say about this, eh? Tell me what Joara's father would think about you beating her?"

"Is that before or after she killed him?" she spat back.

The Doctor opened his mouth to shout at her, glanced at the semi-conscious boy on the floor and moderated his tone. "And _how_ did she kill him? Hmm? Just how did this little girl kill her father – with a knife, an axe? In the conservatory with a wrench?"

"_She_ was the one who had the fever first, _she_ was the one who gave it to my husband! His own precious daughter, that he thought as much of as his own son."

"Oh, well, in _that_ case," he said sarcastically, "I can see why you've been so anxious to, oh, sell her to the first bidder. Although, from a commercial standpoint, I really wouldn't think it would be in your best interests to have visible bruises on the merchandise, would you? When the emotional scars are just so much easier to hide, after all."

Alara flushed under the withering tone, and under the increasingly hostile glances of her neighbours. They had always known she hadn't loved the girl, had resented her presence, but there was no law against that, after all. But no one had any idea just how much she_ hated_ her.

"I won't have her in my house. Not for another moment. No one can force me to! Not after what she's done to my son – I want her arrested for kidnapping," she demanded, turning to the headman.

He blinked in surprise. "Oh, I hardly think that's warranted." He turned to his elder wife and whispered something to her, and she hastened out of the house.

"Not warranted! She kidnapped my son and took him off into the mountains where she nearly let him die of sunstroke, she —"

"She ran off wif 'er little brother because they love each other so much they coul'n't _stand_ the thought you wouldn't le' 'em see each other ever again!" Rose interrupted. "Because they're li'l kids, and family's the most important thing in the world to 'em." She was cuddling Joara against a shoulder that was wet with tears, and the little girl nodded, sniffling.

"And I was _right,_ obviously. She's a danger to my son – she's a danger to everyone except herself. If you people think she's so wonderful, why don't you take her away with you? I'll let you have the gems as well."

"You _can't._ Those are _mine!"_ howled Joara. "My mother—"

"Stop your shrieking, girl," ordered her stepmother. "Don't you realise how it upsets your brother?" She went back to her son and pulled his head onto her lap, cooing to him softly.

The Doctor exchanged a look with his companion, who was still holding the sobbing Joara, and Rose knew he was considering it. Actually, she was about ready to haul both kids off to the TARDIS herself.

No one spoke for the next several minutes, but the emotional tension in the room was still running high. The headman's wife returned and was immediately disconcerted by the atmosphere. Just behind her, an oldish man stepped into the room and gave a heavy sigh. He spared a curious glance toward the two strangers, shook his head slightly at the sight of Joara, and went straight to Bredon where he lay on the floor.

"I understand you've had quite an adventure, eh?" he said fondly, rubbing the boy's cheek with long, work-roughened fingers.

"We ran away from home, and I got sick," Bredon informed him. His voice was still weak, but there was an unmistakable note of pride in it.

"Don't try to talk, dearest," his mother said firmly. "And don't worry, no one's going to lead you away from home and make you sick anymore."

Joara raised her head from Rose's shoulder. "Grandfather, I—"

"Oh, don't you even _try_ to excuse what you did," Alara snapped. "Even your grandfather won't believe you this time." She glared at her father-in-law, as if daring him to take the girl's side.

"Why would I not believe she would want to run away from you, and stay with Bredon?" he asked mildly. "I wondered this afternoon if that wasn't what happened, but you kept screaming about kidnappers."

"And so she is!"

He sighed. "Joara, my dear, go and get your things together. I'm taking you to stay with me. Be sure and take your mother's little bag of jewels."

There was an immediate explosion of protest at these words. "She isn't entitled to her mother's dowry!" Alara said firmly, while both the headman's wives fussed, "But you don't have a wife to take care of the child."

"Oh, I daresay they can take excellent care of one another, right?" the Doctor butted in, smiling broadly at the newcomer. "Wha's better than that? A loving grandfather and his beloved grandchild ... couldn't be better. And she'll be able to see her brother anytime she likes."

"I won't allow it!" screamed Alara. "Look at the way she's causing all this fuss and upsetting my desperately ill son."

Rose rolled her eyes. "An' 'oo's the one yellin'? Anyway, bet ya don't have a choice. D'you know she wanted _sell_ her? Offered her to us an' all."

"That's right, she did," confirmed the Doctor. "Take the first offer she got from the next village, or said we could take her away if we liked. That's only _after _she slapped her to the floor, of course."

"What business is it of yours, I'd like to know?" the woman demanded angrily.

He gave her a broad grin. "Well, you see, that's the thing. I'm the Doctor, and great bullies like you _are_ my business."

"I wonder if she's gonna live in a loft, like Heidi?" Rose said later, as they made their way through the darkness toward the TARDIS.

"Heidi! That's very good, hadn't thought of Heidi! Yes, that's it, a bit like Heidi. He looks the sort to keep goats, doesn't he? Gruff, but, you know ... lovable."

"Pretty good wi' kids yerself," Rose observed.

There was a moment of awkward silence, then the Doctor said easily, "Said it yourself, didn't ya? I'm just a 900-year-old kid myself."

He unlocked the TARDIS door and stepped inside.


End file.
